Some of the earliest writings on Babylonian cuneiform clay tablets indicate that number and measurement of mass, length and volume were already in use at the time writing was being developed. This gives the practice of using artefacts to measure mass (weighing) a much longer history than that of coins. Priests and kings set up weight standards and made weights so that trade could flourish honestly. With the invention of precious metal coinage in the Greek world in about 700BC there became a great need for testing coins to prevent fraud (forgery started with the first coins!).

We deal with the artefacts of weighing of all periods from before 3000 B.C. to 20th century weights and scales. Our special interest is in the weights specifically made to weigh coins. These have their origins with the Greeks and were widely used in Roman and Byzantine times. They became abundant from 13th century onwards in Europe and die out in the mid-Victorian times. The need for a large number of different weights was due to the many small states which made gold coins that made up Medieval Europe. The demise of the coin weight was due mostly to the cheap rocker balance and latterly the removal of precious metal from the coinage.